I watched a documentary of the 1932 German election this morning (oh, the joys of the semi-retired). Germany’s Weimar Republic was in economic and civic distress: high unemployment, once-great industrial production facilities shut down, currency worthlessly inflated and the shameful pain of a once great country humbled before the world.
A government of men drawn from Germany’s traditional ruling class was helpless. The citizenry felt betrayed by the Weimar government’s weak posture before foreign powers, its failed economic policies and its empty promises of a better tomorrow. While the appeal of feckless establishment politicians waned, two new political forces stepped into the void: communists under Ernst Thalmann and nationalists under Adolf Hitler.
Each new group promised separate versions of what an angry, dispirited citizenry wanted to hear: who to blame and how to recover.
Communists blamed rich industrialists and pledged that redistribution of their ill-gotten wealth would solve Germany’s ills.
National Socialists blamed Jews and traitors in government and pledged that recovery of Aryan Germany’s racial purity would make Germany great again. Each side developed passionate partisans, thoroughly convinced that their guy held the key to prosperity and justice.
Now, I know that for every parallel that comes to mind between Germany of 1932 and America of 2016, others can think of differences that weaken the former as a historical analogy for the latter. I would rather have members of the public think about how they are going to make sure America doesn’t replicate Germany of July 1932 in November of 2016.
Leonard Hoy, Greenwood
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